LIAM PARO is on a mission to become the king of the super-lightweight division, no matter who gets in his way.
The IBF champion turned in one of the best performances of 2024 to defeat knockout artist Subriel Matias in Puerto Rico in June.
Five months on and the Australian is four weeks away from his first title defence against mandatory challenger Richardson Hitchins. Speaking to Boxing News, Paro said his mind is on the task ahead but knows there are bigger fights on the horizon. One of those could be Devin Haney, who was recently linked to a fight against Paro, but the Brisbane boxer explained why nothing materialised.
“It was simple, he priced himself out. It was a silly price he was asking for. We knew straight away with that response he didn’t want it. We moved on, we’re sorting our mandatory now. That’s in the past, not even interested about that. My mind is strictly on Hitchins and getting the job done and defending my belt, defending the throne.”
Haney has already defeated one Australian – George Kambosos Jr – Down Under on two occasions. BN asked Paro if he thought Haney’s large asking price had something to do with that.
“Yeah, maybe, but at the time I think he had a bit more to offer [then],” Paro answered.
Paro believes Haney (L) is still dealing with what happened against Ryan Garcia (R).
“I think his stock’s gone down in the past few months. Look, it’s a potential fight. His head’s still in the clouds with the whole [Ryan] Garcia thing. Get himself right, get to 140lbs and that’s a definite fight I’ll welcome with open arms in the near future. I want to fight everyone. I want to be the true king of this division. I want to take everyone out one by one.”
The 140lbs division has seen some movement recently with more to come soon. Jack Catterall recently beat Regis Prograis, Matias got back to winning ways yesterday and Arnold Barboza faces Jose Carlos Ramirez next weekend.
If Paro defeats Hitchins, a big fight should come his way in 2025. And one against Haney, the former undisputed lightweight champion and WBC super-lightweight titlist, could be back on the table.